1329. Alice in Chains / Live. 2000. 4/5

The performance of the band on MTV Unplugged in April 1996, that was then released as a live album on July 30 1996, is pretty much where the line is drawn in the Layne Staley era of Alice in Chains. Certainly there were some releases after this, including the “Music Box” compilations that included a couple of new tracks. But as to the band actively being what could be described AS a band, that album completed the cycle. The band’s final live gigs with Layne Staley took place in that month as well, which places another pin in that board – and yes, I did avoid using the term ‘nail in the coffin’ for obvious reasons – although now that I’ve used it anyway, that seems a tad superfluous. And while the period between 1996 and 2002 is a seemingly drawn out affair, I won’t be covering that story here. Suffice to say, if you are interested, may I direct you to the podcast titled ‘And Volume For All’, where Season 2 covers the story of Alice in Chains in great detail, including this rather sad and unfortunate period of their existence. ‘And Volume For All’ continues to be the very best heavy metal podcast on the planet, and along with Quinn’s ridiculously amazing Alice in Chains series he has much more to offer, and I truly suggest you should check it out if you have not already done so.
No doubt in order to keep the name of the band alive (and also to continue to produce income streams for the record company itself, trying to cash in on several high selling albums), said record company pulled together a selection of live recordings the band had made over the years, and decided to put out a live album by the band that was indeed ‘plugged’ rather than ‘unplugged’. The three eras of the band are explored here, with two tracks coming from two different gigs in 1990, seven songs from 1993 of which six are from the same gig in Glasgow, and the five concluding tracks coming from consecutive days on July 2 and 3 of 1996, the final two shows the band ever played with the late great Layne Staley. Released as it was, four years following those final shows, the release felt like one that was in limbo, that it was celebrating a past life rather than being an album released to showcase the greatness of the band before they pushed on to the next studio album. It was of course an album released with a band in a holding pattern, a holding pattern that was one that flowed on into the mists of time.

As a compilation live album, one that has been taken from several sources, and is not just a full live concert recording from the one tour, it sometimes is troublesome in trying to adjust to the different eras of the band that are compiled onto the one album. In the past on this podcast I have extolled my preference for live albums to be from one show, to retain the integrity of the recording. This of course very rarely occurs. Even the greatest of live albums – Slayer's “Decade of Aggression”, Iron Maiden’s “Live After Death” and UFO’s “Strangers in the Night”, all had pieces taken from different nights of the tour. So I guess I have mostly rescinded that argument when it comes to me judging live albums. What it can be said about this particular live album is that it contains a cracking song list, and does give you the opportunity to judge for yourself if the band changed in their live scenario over the years.
The live version offered here of the opening track “Bleed the Freak” is absolutely awesome. The bassline, played here by Mike Starr is just beautiful, with that solid backing drums from Sean Kinney, but it is the vocals that steal the show, they are incredible. Layne and Jerry combine superbly here to create the version of the song you would have been hoping to hear had you ventured to see the band in 1990. However, “Queen of the Rodeo” is probably completely different for me. I have just never really enjoyed it much. Despite it being on the band’s demo “The Treehouse Tapes”, I think it missed out on being on “Facelift” for a reason. I understand the nice thought in including it on this album, but the song for me is underwhelming.
From here the album moves to 1993 and Glasgow, and some of the bands greatest songs. “Angry Chair” probably loses some of its angsty anger from the studio version on this live version, but it is such a great song it still holds its own. In particular, Jerry’s guitar solo is still stunning. “Man in the Box” follows, and is another song that is so magnificent on the studio album, and yet on this live version perhaps loses a little of its magic. I have seen it played live a number of times, and must admit I felt the same way about it when I saw Layne sing it, perhaps because each time he seemed to be a little...fluey. At least, that was the explanation that he gave. And yet, when I saw the band perform it with William DuVall it pumped, firstly because the band upped the tempo but also because William sang it like a fan would, and that made all the difference.
The next three songs though are just superb. “Love Hate Love”. Oh man, this drags in every awesome take from the studio version and magnifies it. The sombre mood, and the almost stop dead tempo of the live version is incredible. It lets Mike Inez’s bass guitar to come through so powerfully on top of Sean Kinney drums. And then Layne sings the fucking hell out of this live version. My word, everything that makes this song so magnificent in the studio version doubles down here. It is unbelievably awesome. From here the band heads into “Rooster”. Again, the slowed tempo, emphasising the bass and guitar along with the vocals of both Layne and Jerry is amazing, and the powerful drum beat pounding down as well. It is insanely good. Layne is on fire once again on this song. The marching drumming beat from Sean in the final verse as well is hypnotic. Magnificent. And then on top of this comes “Would?”, which is just outstanding. What a song, and everything sounds incredible here. The bassline, the drums, the guitar, and those combined vocals. What a song and it just carries it perfectly here. The rhythm of bass and drums on this song is the star turn on the live version, with Mike and Sean pummelling.
Into the second half of the album and we get a different mixture of tracks and performance. “Junkhead” sounds great in the main through the vocals, as Layne wails wonderfully on this live version, and that is what is the star turn. We then have a version of “Dirt” that is subtitled “Drunk and Disorderly version” and comes from a gig in Japan of 1993. Perhaps because of the reasons behind the subtitle I don’t find this as impactful as the studio version, but again the rhythm of Sean’s rolling drumbeat and Mike’s lolling bass line is the star attraction.
The final five tracks on the album come from what ultimately became the final live appearances of Layne Staley with Alice in Chains from St. Louis and Kansas City, though of course no one knew that at the time. “Them Bones” is a good live version. “God Am” for me has only ever been average as a song, and for me it is only average as a live version here. However, on the next track “Again”, the live version here brings this song to life far more than the studio version, and the studio version is one of the brightest tracks on that album! The rolling rhythm is fantastic from Sean and Mike and Jerry’s guitar riffs rock hard. A great version of the song. “A Little Bitter”, which comes from the soundtrack of “Last Action Hero”, is a beauty. Kinney and Inez again are just fabulous throughout this song, and when Jerry’s guitar riff cracks in at the one minute mark the song really ramps up. Another live version that kills its studio version. The album then concludes with “Dam That River”, a powerful rendition of that great track. You can almost see the crowd jumping around in excitement while listening to it. I certainly imagine myself at age 22 doing the exact same thing at the Hordern Pavilion as I listened along. It concludes what is overall a terrific live album experience.

I often say when reviewing live albums that they should almost always be a 5/5 album, because you are getting the bands best songs in their best environment. And I don’t OFTEN say it; I say it EVERY single time. So now I’ve said it again. And even though I don’t often listen to live albus in preference to listening to studio albums, they certainly do serve a purpose.
I bought this not long after its release. I had just spent most of 2000 saving for a deposit for a house, which we purchased in October of that year, and I felt as though I had a little spare money to buy an album or two. That wasn’t to be the case, given said house was then flooded in January 2001, but I still managed to get this not too long after that. And it was an interesting moment. I had, as had most of us, purchased the MTV Unplugged album soon after its release four years earlier and just adored it. Played it over and over, bought the VHS and watched it over and over. As a live performance, it is practically untouchable. So when this album came out, the band’s first fully electrified live album, showcasing the band in all its glory, I was excited. Tremendously excited. Perhaps... over excited? I mean, it had a bit to live up to. Anyway, I bought it, I listened to it, it was good, and back on the shelves it went, as my manic phase of European power meta and progressive metal began to take over my music listening world. And, there it remained. Not forever, but mostly, yes. And some of that came down to the fact that when I think about listening to Alice in Chains I think about listening to “Facelift” or “Dirt”, but ALSO that when I think about listening to Alice in Chains live, I think about listening to “MTV Unplugged”. Which proves on the one hand how ingrained that album is on my psyche, but how under the radar this live album actually is. Because I can tell you that listening to it again last night as I was preparing for this podcast episode, I loved almost every second of ti, and probably not for the first time wondered why I haven’t listened to this more, or even THINK about listening to it more! And the question that came to me was this – is everyone in the world who are Alice in Chains enjoyers have the same thoughts? Does ANYONE know that this album exists?!
This album showcases a large range of the great tracks from Alice in Chains in the live environment. Not all of them of course. And while all the versions here are good, there are others that it would have been nice to have heard as well. Layne’s passing in 2002 seemed to have put a full stop on the band ever playing again (though that became premature) and the fact that we have this album to rejoice in the quartet at their best is gratifying. If you haven’t heard this before, it would be well worth your time tracking it down.